Wire-fence tightener.



No. 66l,04l. Patented Nov; 5, I900.

a. H. CULLEN.

WIRE FENCE TIGHTENER. (Application med Apr. 5, 1900,.

(I10 Madal.)

=13, GearOe/FC We GEORGE H. CULLEN, OF SITKA, INDIANA.

WIRE-FENCE TIGHTENER.

v SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 661,041, datedNovember 6, 1900.

Application filed April 5 1900.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. OULLEN, a-

citizen of the United States, residing at Sitka, in the county of Whiteand State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Wire-Fence Tighteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention has relation to tools for taking up slack in fence-wireswithout looping and twisting the same or necessitating the drawing ofstaples or the use of means for coiling and which will admit of the wirecontracting and expanding without producing any sag.

The tool is constructed so as to crimp the wire at any point in itslength between adjacent posts, the crimps taking up any slack andmaintaining the wire under tension at all times.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowl-' edge of the details of construction of the meansfor elfecting the result reference is'to be had to the followingdescription and the drawings hereto attached.

While the essential and characteristic features of the invention arenecessarily susceptible of modification, still the preferred embodimentof the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tightener. Fig. 2 is a plan viewshowing the man ner of operation of the device. Fig. 3 is a detail viewin perspective, showing the parts separated. Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of a modification for making a number of crimps at one operation.Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the modification.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

The tool comprises, essentially, two wirecrimping members pivotallyconnected and constructed to form either a single or a nu mber of crimpsat one operation, according to the size of the implement. Eachmemberconsists of a handle and a head, the latter being shouldered ornotched, according to its relaserial No. 11,725. \Nomoaet.

verse alinement, and one wall of the notches is straight and the otherbeveled upon the inner side, as shown at 4. There may be as many sets ofnotches 3 as desired, two being deemed amply sufficient. The shoulderedmember of the tool is composed of the handle 5 and the head 6 the latterentering the space formed between the parts a a and conforming inoutline therewith. The handles of the respective members have the headsarranged at one side thereof so as to overlap and admit of the handleslying in the same plane and touching at their inner edges. The head 6 isprovided with shoulders 7, formed by cutting awaya peripheral portionthereof, said shoulders being oppositely beveled from a central point toprovide ample space for the reception of the crimped portions of thewire when the tool is in operation. The beveling of the shoulders 7 andone wall of the notches 3 prevents cutting of the wire during theformation of the crimp and admits of the wire sliding through thenotches as the depth of the crimp increases. To further provide for thesliding movementof the wire in the notches 3, the outer edge portions ofthe parts a c are outwardly beveled or flared upon the face adjacent tothe head 6. One of the shoulders 7 is designed to cooperate with a setof notches 3 and the other shoulder with the other set of notches. Bythis means provision is bad for crimping the fence-wire either byspreading the handles 1 and 5 or by moving said handles together,according to the set of notches and cooperating shoulder brought intoplay.

The tool shown in Fig. 1 and herein described is adapted to form asingle crimp only at one operation, and when it is requiredto form aplurality of crimps simultaneously the head 2 of the notched crimpingmember will comprise more than two parts, as a a a depending upon thenumber of crimps to be formed. As shown in Figs. Land 5, the head 2comprises three parts a a a having corresponding notches in transversealinement, and the number of parts forming the head may be increased asdesired. The head 6 of the crimping, member cooperating with the head 2of the form'of tool illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 comprises parts 5 b,spaced so as to enter the spaces formed between the parts a a (L Theparts I) Z) are formed with shouL ders 7 in transverse alinement tocooperate with the notches 3 of the adjacent parts a a a From theforegoing it will be understood that the tool may be single, double, orof any extent, according to the number of crimps to be formed at oneoperation, and in every instance the general construction is the same,the one difference being in the number of crimping-heads, which willvary according to the capacity of the tool.

In the event of it being required to take up slack in a fence-wire,whether smooth or barbed, the tool is applied so as to receive the wire8 in correspomiing notches 3 with the shoulder 7 at one side of thewire, and upon operating the handles 1 and 5 the crimping members aremoved so as to deflect the portion of the wire extending across thespace formed between the parts a a, the shoulder 7 bearing against andacting jointly with the beveled walls of the notches 3 to produce thecrimp 9. Any number of crimps is formed in the wire, so as to take upslack therein and provide a tension, and these crimps allow forcontraction of the wire when the temperature is materially reduced andagain take up any slack incident to an expansion of the wire when thetemperature increases.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A toolfor tightening fence-wires by the formation of crimps therein, the sameconsisting of a handle provided at one end with spaced parts ofapproximately circular outline with theirinner peripheral portionsoutwardly flared and transversely notched, and a second handle having anapproximately circular head about equal in diametrical extent to theaforementioned circular parts and pivoted concentrically therebetweenand having its outer edge portion oppositely beveled and transverselynotched, substantially as described.

2. A tool for tightening fence-wires by the formation of crimps thereinthe same consisting of a handle provided at one end with and the otheroppositely beveled from a central line, substantially as specified.

3. A tool for tightening fence-wires by the formation ofcrimps therein,the same consist= ing of a handle having a head composed of a pluralityof spaced parts of approximately circular outline having the adjacentfaces of their peripheral portions outwardly flared, and having sets oftransversely-alined notches at intervals in their circumferentiallength, corresponding walls of the notches being oppositely beveled, anda second handle having a head composed of a number of spaced parts ofapproximately circular outline and fitted between the parts of theaforementioned head and pivoted concentrically therewith ,the two headsbeing of about equal diameter, and the parts of the last-mentioned headhaving their peripheral portions oppositely beveled and formed with aseries of transversely-alined notches with corresponding walls beveledin an opposite direction to the beveled walls of the notches formed inthe parts of the firstmentioned head, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. OULLEN. [L. S.]

Witnesses:

ELVIN H. HOSHOUT, L. W. REPROGLE.

